略论高职思政课教学内容的构建与处理

高职院校思想政治理论课所用的教材与普通高校本科一致,都属国家教育部统编教材,但是高职院校的人才培养目标和高职院校学生自身特点（如心理特征、知识结构、能力偏向等）却不同于本科类院校。由此,在具体教学实践活动中,高职思政课教师应根据高职院校实际、学生实际,重新构建高职思政课的教学内容,并对其妥善处理,从而提高高职思政课的教学实效。     

Treatment and Control Groups in a Dynamic Setting

The paper considers a version of the question of how to define treatment and control groups in a dynamic setting where treatments can occur at any time (but only once). The version considered pre‐supposes that treatments as well as outcomes can be conceptualised as events occurring in temporal locations of a discrete time axis. It is proposed to think of effects as being dependent on both the time when and the time since the treatment occurred. The paper develops corresponding definitions of treatment and control groups, and proposes a notion of ‘comprehensive treatment effect’ that takes into account how treatment and control groups are generated. Based on this notion, the paper discusses causal interpretations that do not pre‐suppose a potential outcomes framework.     

A note on variance estimation for the Oaxaca estimator of average treatment effects

We derive the limiting distribution of the Oaxaca estimator of average treatment effects studied by Kline (2011). A consistent estimator of the asymptotic variance is proposed that makes use of standard regression routines. It is shown that ignoring uncertainty in group means will tend to lead to an overstatement of the asymptotic standard errors. Monte Carlo experiments examine the finite sample performance of competing approaches to inference.     

Does a cassava research-for-development program have impact at the farm level? Evidence from the Democratic Republic of Congo

This paper evaluates the impact of a cassava research-for-development program on farm level outcomes. The program was implemented in the Democratic Republic of Congo from 2001 to 2009. We apply propensity score matching, Rosenbaum bounds on treatment effects, Altonji et al. method of selection on observables and unobservables and endogenous switching regression to farm survey data collected during the 2009 cropping season. We use these methods to test whether the R4D program has a statistically significant effect on outcomes of interest and if these are not driven by selection on unobservables. Using propensity score matching, we find statistically significant positive effects on household participation in cassava markets, adoption of improved varieties and crop management practices and household food adequacy; and no statistically significant effects on yields and profits. The results show that bias due to selection on unobservables is not severe enough to invalidate the impact estimates. Bias may still be a problem that is present in the analysis. But there is evidence that it is not substantial. Although the program does not have a statistically significant positive effect on yields and profits, the significant program effects on market participation, variety adoption, and food adequacy merit further promotion of the program since these positive outcomes tend to be pre-conditions for realizing long-term yield and profit benefits.     

Adoption of improved wheat varieties and impacts on household food security in Ethiopia

This article evaluates the impact of the adoption of improved wheat varieties on food security using a recent nationally-representative dataset of over 2000 farm households in Ethiopia. We adopted endogenous switching regression treatment effects complemented with a binary propensity score matching methodology to test robustness and reduced selection bias stemming from both observed and unobserved characteristics. We expand this further with the generalized propensity score (GPS) approach to evaluate the effects of continuous treatment on the response of the outcome variables. We find a consistent result across models indicating that adoption increases food security and farm households that did adopt would also have benefited significantly had they adopted new varieties. This study supports the need for vital investments in agricultural research for major food staples widely consumed by the poor, and efforts to improve access to modern varieties and services. Policies that enhance diffusion and adoption of modern wheat varieties should be central to food security strategies in Ethiopia.     

Clinical characteristics,pharmacotherapy, and healthcare resource use among patients with fibromyalgia newly prescribed pregabalin or tricyclic antidepressants

Abstract

Objective:

To examine treatment patterns and costs among patients with fibromyalgia prescribed pregabalin or tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs).

Methods:

Using the LifeLink? Health Plan Claims Database, patients with fibromyalgia (International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification code 729.1X) newly prescribed (index date) TCAs (n?=?898) were identified and propensity score-matched (PSM) with patients newly prescribed pregabalin (n?=?898). Pain-related pharmacotherapy, comorbidities, and healthcare resource use/costs were examined during the 12 months, pre-index, and follow-up periods.

Results:

Both patient groups reported multiple comorbidities and received pain medications in the pre-index and follow-up periods. Among patients prescribed pregabalin, use of non-selective non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (43.3% vs 39.8%), other anticonvulsants (28.6% vs 23.3%), and tetracyclic/miscellaneous antidepressants (28.5% vs 25.8%) significantly decreased, and cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) inhibitors (7.7% vs 10.4%), TCAs (4.8% vs 7.9%), and topical agents (10.8% vs 15.1%) increased in the follow-up period (p?<?0.05). Among patients prescribed TCAs, there were significant decreases in muscle relaxants (42.0% vs 38.4%) and sedative hypnotics (27.4% vs 23.9%), and increases in COX-2 inhibitors (5.8% vs 7.9%) and anticonvulsants (25.1% vs 33.7%; p?<?0.05). There were increases (p?<?0.0001) in pharmacy costs in both cohorts and total healthcare costs in the pregabalin cohort from pre-index to follow-up. Median total costs were higher (p?<?0.05) in the pregabalin group vs TCAs in the pre-index ($9935 vs $8771) and follow-up ($10,689 vs $8379) periods.

Limitations:

Despite attempts to address bias through PSM, the higher pre-index costs in the pregabalin cohort suggest a channeling of patients with more severe fibromyalgia to pregabalin.

Conclusions:

Patients with fibromyalgia prescribed pregabalin or TCAs had multiple comorbidities and a sizeable pain medication burden, which increased in the follow-up period for both cohorts. Only 5% of pregabalin initiators had been treated with concomitant TCAs at baseline, suggesting that TCAs were inappropriate for these patients owing to their contraindications.     

走出认识误区改进新型农村合作医疗试点工作

新型农村合作医疗制度是政府着眼于实现全面建设小康社会目标，为切实解决”三农”问题，大力加强农村卫生建设，提高农民健康水平而采取的重大举措，也是当今中国农村医疗保障制度的现实选择。本文针对试点中存在的一些认识误区，提出改进建议及具体做法。     

《新兴市场稳定资本流动和公平债务重组的原则》述评

《新兴市场稳定资本流动和公平债务重组的原则》(以下简称《原则》)是由一些新兴市场国家和以国际金融协会为首的国际私人债权人组织在2004年11月联合发布的。这一《原则》旨在促使发生债务危机的国家尽早恢复债务支付能力和确保国际资本向这些国家的稳定流动,其中主要涉及到透明度和信息流动、双方对话与合作、善意行动和债权人间公平待遇等基本原则。这些原则对于完善债务危机解决机制具有重要意义。     

灵活就业者与正规就业者个人所得税负比较分析

形式多样的灵活就业发展迅速，并已成为扩大就业和再就业的有效途径，它们的发展对解决中国就业难题有着非常重要的作用，但现行税收制度对灵活就业者极其不利。文章主要分析灵活就业者在现行个人所得税税收制度中遭受的非公平待遇。     

Burden of breast cancer with brain metastasis: a French national hospital database analysis

Abstract

Objective:

Incidence of breast cancer with brain metastases (BCBM) is increasing, especially among patients over-expressing HER2. Epidemiology on this sub-type of cancer is scarce, since cancer registries carry no information on the HER2 status. A retrospective database analysis was conducted to estimate the burden of BCBM, especially among HER2-positive patients in a secondary objective.

Methods:

Patients with a new diagnosis of BCBM carried out between January and December 2008 were identified from the national hospital database using the International Disease Classification. Patients receiving a targeted anti-HER2 therapy were identified from the national pharmacy database. Hospital and pharmacy claims were linked to estimate the burden of HER2-positive patients. Data on hospitalizations were extracted to describe treatment patterns and healthcare costs during a 1-year follow-up. Predictors of treatment cost were analyzed through multi-linear regression analysis.

Results:

Two thousand and ninety-nine BCBM patients were identified (mean age (SD)?=?57.8 (13.6)), of whom 12.2% received a targeted anti-HER2 therapy; 79% of patients had brain metastases associated with extracranial metastases, and the attrition rate reached 82%. Patients received mostly palliative care (47.4%), general medical care (40.6%), and chemotherapy (35.0%). The total annual hospital cost of treatment was 8,426,392€, representing a mean cost of 22,591€ (±14,726) per patient, mainly influenced by extracranial metastases, surgical acts, and HER2-overexpression (p?<?0.0001).

Conclusions:

The database linkage of hospital and pharmacy claims is a relevant approach to identify sub-type of cancer. Chemotherapy was widely used as a systemic treatment for breast cancer rather than for local treatment of brain metastases whose morbi-mortality remains high. The variability of treatment costs suggests clinical heterogeneity and, thus, extensive individualization of protocols.